Working in the US

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Are there any Australian and/or NZ nurses here who are actively seeking to work in the US? Or Canada? For an article that I am writing, I would like to know why you are planning/going/or would like to go and work in the US.

I do not need to use your names in the article, but I would like to hear from nurses themselves (rather than organizations!) why you want to leave your country and work elsewhere. Considering that there is also a shortage of nurses in Australia and NZ, do you feel any conflict about leaving to go work in "greener pastures" so to speak?

Thanks so much. You can pm me if you like.

:)

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Specializes in ICU.

Roxanne - from my experience more nurses who travel overseas from Australia tend to travel to the UK rather than the US. There are several reasons for this

1) It is easier to get your qualifications recognised in the UK

2) Many still have family ties in the UK

3) We are dead scared of the level of litigation in the USA

That about sums it up;)

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Originally posted by gwenith

Roxanne - from my experience more nurses who travel overseas from Australia tend to travel to the UK rather than the US. There are several reasons for this

1) It is easier to get your qualifications recognised in the UK

2) Many still have family ties in the UK

3) We are dead scared of the level of litigation in the USA

That about sums it up;)

Thanks for the info, Gwenith. That's interesting how the chain work. Australian nurses go to the UK, and UK nurses come to the US (the US is actively recruiting in the UK).

But I am interested in any nurses really, who have left their own nation and gone to another country to work. So why are nurses leaving Oz? Are work conditions better in the UK?

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Specializes in ICU.

Having "been there done that" the answer is "to see the other side" Trite huh??

When I went - in the eighties we Aussies were still suffering the lingering effects of the "cultural cringe". We are isolated and aware of it. This made us want to go to the "big lights" and see what it was like. Yeah! we get big names coming down here but we cannot walk down the street and see these people. We do not or did not have the huge stage productions and cutlure that you do.

Remember we get exposed to a LOT more overseas programming than you do UK and USA and so we feel we can adapt and live in UK and American culture it is not an "unknown" to us. Fewer Aussie nurses go to NZ to work and that is right next door often we do not think of going there because we do not have the exposure via TV to that life - also though, because NZ is seen as less "exciting" (i.e. less night life).

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Hi I am currently in the process of moving to the USA, have sat NCLEX, just waiting for my Green Card to be approved, so who knows when we actually arrive in the US permanently.

Why the big move- my husband works in the Mega Yacht industry in FL/Caribbean, the job prospects for him are better over there.

I have lived here in Perth on my own for 2+ years with the children, at least this way we can all be back together, and stop spending a fortune on trans Pacific airfares!

I have a job lined up in Weston, FL- phone interview, very painless!

Moved from NZ to Western Australia 7 years ago because of my husbands work. Lets just say nursing is a very portable occupation! Just a little more difficult to get into in the USA!

Hope this is of some help to you.:)

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